Slide top desk

ABSTRACT

A desk suitable for housing a sewing machine is disclosed. The top of the desk has two sliding portions which can slide apart to allow a third hinged center section to be swung up into place between the two sliding portions. A sewing machine may be mounted on the center section and can be hidden-from sight when the center section is lowered.

United States Patent [191 'lrueblood [451 Dec. 25, 1973 SLIDE T01 DESK [75] Inventor: Robert Arthur Trueblood, Paoli,

Ind.

[73] Assignee: Cornwell Company, Inc., Paoli, Ind.

[22] Filed: Apr. 21, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 246,411

[52] U.S. Cl. 312/30 [51] Int. Cl A4711 81/00 [58] Field of Search 312/21, 30, 138 R,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,186,780 6/1965 Schaerf 312/30 2,711,940 6/1955 Hochman 312/30 2,247,380 7/1941 Hohmann 312/30 2,122,042 6/1938 Mattucci". 312/1402 2,607,651 8/1952 Preuss 312/30 Primary ExaminerJames C. Mitchell Attorney-John Cameron McNett [5 7 ABSTRACT A desk suitable for housing a sewing machine is disclosed. The top of the desk has two sliding portions which can slide apart to allow a third hinged center section to be swung up into place between the two sliding portions. A sewing machine may be mounted on the center section and can be hidden-from sight when the center section is lowered.

12 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEU DEC 25 I975 SHEET 2 BF 3 PATENIED EBZ ISH 3.781.074

SHEET 3 SF 3 Fig.5

sum TOP DESK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the invention The present invention relates generally to a cabinet which has an expansible upper work surface. More particularly, the invention relates to a desk having a top which includes two sliding portions which can slide apart to allow a third hinged center section to be swung up into place between the two sliding portions.

2. Description of the prior art In prior art sewing machine cabinets, provision is typically made for hiding the sewing machine from sight when not in use and for enlarging the work surface when sewing is to be done. US. Pat. No. 3,395,959 to White shows one such way of accomplishing this.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,122,042 discloses a combination cellaret and cocktail table. This table has a top surface di vided into two portions which can be separated to automatically cause a beverage receptacle to elevate to a position between the separated two portions. This design exposes the track mechanism used for guiding the top surface portions and thus is not as trouble free or attractive as would be desired. In addition, the elevated receptacle is supported only at the center of its two sides, thus limiting the amount of stability possible when a force is applied to the ends of the receptacle. While this design may suffice for its intended purpose, it does not provide a sturdy uniformly smooth work surface needed for many tasks, such as sewing with a sewing machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates in perspective a slide top desk embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates the desk of FIG. 1 with the sliding portions of its top separated.

FIG. 3 illustrates the desk of FIG. 2 with the hinged center section swung up into place.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the desk of FIG. 3 with the sewing machine removed.

FIG. 5 is a section of FIG. 2 taken along the line 5-5 and viewed in the direction of the arrows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring in particular to the five figures of the drawings, a desk, or sewing cabinet, is illustrated which embodies the present invention. In FIG. 1 there is shown the slide top desk which has six small drawers 11-16 positioned in groups of three on each side of a kneehole. Above the kneehole is a false drawer face 17. The top surface of the desk includes two grooved guide pieces 21 and 22 as well as two sliding portions 23 and 24. The desk conventionally has four legs 25 through illustrated except that it is shown with the two sliding portions 23 and 24 separated and exposing a center section 31. The center section 31 is hinged to the grooved guide piece 21. In FIG. 3 the same desk is illustrated as in FIG. 2 except that the center portion upon which is mounted a sewing machine 30 is elevated to be flush with the two sliding portions and the two grooved guides.

FIG. 4 is a top view of FIG. 3 with the sewing machine 30 removed. There is illustrated in detail the grooved guides 21 and 22, each having a groove 46 extending almost its entire length. A hinged center section 31 is hingedly attached to grooved guide 21 by a hinge 44. The hinged center section rests on lift lid stops 43 and 42 which are attached to the sliding portions 23 and 24 and protrude laterally from the lower edges to provide support for the hinged center section 31. In addition, a conventional key latch 41 is illustrated and latches the hinged center section in position by engaging with the groove 46 in grooved guide 22. A hole 40 is provided for grasping the center section for raising and lowering it into position. In each of the sliding portions 23 and 24 there are protruding steel pins 45 for engaging with the grooves 46 in the grooved guide pieces.

FIG. 5 illustrates a sectional view of FIG. 2 taken along line 5--5 and viewed in the direction of the arrows. This illustrates the position of the center section 31 on which is mounted a sewing machine 30 when it is lowered and not being used as a portion of the top work surface. A back 52 of the desk extends downwardly from the grooved guide piece 21 and has attached at its lower end a horizontally extending shelf 50 which is used as a stop for the lowered center section 31 to maintain it at a 25 angle to the vertical. With this angle the sewing machine is effectively concealed in the upper portion of the space below the top work surface. In addition the handle opening 40 is easily accessible by reaching past the sewing machine 30, whereas if there were not shelf 50 the center section would assume a nearly vertical position and would make grasping of the handle opening 40 difficult. To provide clearance between the lowered center section 31 and the sliding portions 23 and 24 slight grooves 53 are made in the sliding portions.

To convert from the desk of FIG. 1 to the desk of FIG. 3, the sliding portions 23 and 24 are slid outwardly as illustrated in FIG. 2 as far as possible. The hinged center section is then grasped by way of the handle opening 40 and swung up into position such that the surface of the center section 31 is flush with the surface of the grooved guides and sliding portions. The sliding portions are then pushed slightly toward each other to abut the center section and to place the stops 42 and 43 under the center section to prevent it from returning to its lowered position. To provide additional assurance that the center section will remain in position, lock 41 can be operated to engage the groove 46 in the guide 22.

As can be observed, the desk in the form of either FIG. 1 or FIG. 3 is attractive, has no exposed guides or tracks, and is at all times quite sturdy.

While there has been described above the principles of this invention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation of the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A desk having a sturdy expansible work surface and comprising:

a. a top work surface including two guide portions,

b. means connecting said two guide portions to maintain them in a spaced apart relation,

c. support means extending downwardly from opposite ends of said guide portions for supporting said guide portions,

d. said top work surface also including two sliding portions each slidably engaging with said two guide portions and positionable adjacent each other,

e. a center section hingedly connected to one of said guide portions and arranged to be swingably positionable as an additional portion of said top work surface when said two sliding portions are slid apart from each other and swingably positionable below the top work surface to allow said two sliding portions to be slid together.

2. The desk of claim 1 which additionally includes on each sliding portion a lift lid stop protruding laterally from the lower edge of each sliding portion in the direction of the other sliding portion.

3. The desk of claim 1 in which each of said guide portions is grooved along almost its entire length and in which each of said sliding means has protruding groove engaging means for providing the sliding engagement with said guide portions.

4. The desk of claim 1 which additionally includes:

storage means below each end of said guide portions which define a kneehole below the center of one of said guide portions,

means connecting said storage means to said guide portions.

5. The desk of claim 4 which additionally includes a sewing machine mounted to said center section.

6. The desk of claim 1 which additionally includes a sewing machine mounted to said center section.

7. The desk of claim 6 which additionally includes:

positioning means connected to one of said guide portions for maintaining the plane of said center section at about a 25 angle to vertical when said center section is swung below the top work surface.

8. The desk of claim 7 in which said positioning means includes a shelf which is parallel to the top work surface.

9. The desk of claim 8 which additionally includes on each sliding portion a lift lid stop protruding laterally from the lower edge of each sliding portion in the direction of the other sliding portion.

10. The desk of claim 9 in which each of said guide portions is grooved along almost its entire length and in which each of said sliding means has protruding groove engaging means for providing the sliding engagement with said guide portions.

11. The desk of claim 1 in which said sliding portions are positionable adjacent each other along a straight line.

12. The desk of claim 1 in which said center section is adjacent both of said guide portions when positioned as an additional portion of said top work surface. 

1. A desk having a sturdy expansible work surface and comprising: a. a top work surface including two guide portions, b. means connecting said two guide portions to maintain them in a spaced apart relation, c. support means extending downwardly from opposite ends of said guide portions for supporting said guide portions, d. said top work surface also including two sliding portions each slidably engaging with said two guide porTions and positionable adjacent each other, e. a center section hingedly connected to one of said guide portions and arranged to be swingably positionable as an additional portion of said top work surface when said two sliding portions are slid apart from each other and swingably positionable below the top work surface to allow said two sliding portions to be slid together.
 2. The desk of claim 1 which additionally includes on each sliding portion a lift lid stop protruding laterally from the lower edge of each sliding portion in the direction of the other sliding portion.
 3. The desk of claim 1 in which each of said guide portions is grooved along almost its entire length and in which each of said sliding means has protruding groove engaging means for providing the sliding engagement with said guide portions.
 4. The desk of claim 1 which additionally includes: storage means below each end of said guide portions which define a kneehole below the center of one of said guide portions, means connecting said storage means to said guide portions.
 5. The desk of claim 4 which additionally includes a sewing machine mounted to said center section.
 6. The desk of claim 1 which additionally includes a sewing machine mounted to said center section.
 7. The desk of claim 6 which additionally includes: positioning means connected to one of said guide portions for maintaining the plane of said center section at about a 25* angle to vertical when said center section is swung below the top work surface.
 8. The desk of claim 7 in which said positioning means includes a shelf which is parallel to the top work surface.
 9. The desk of claim 8 which additionally includes on each sliding portion a lift lid stop protruding laterally from the lower edge of each sliding portion in the direction of the other sliding portion.
 10. The desk of claim 9 in which each of said guide portions is grooved along almost its entire length and in which each of said sliding means has protruding groove engaging means for providing the sliding engagement with said guide portions.
 11. The desk of claim 1 in which said sliding portions are positionable adjacent each other along a straight line.
 12. The desk of claim 1 in which said center section is adjacent both of said guide portions when positioned as an additional portion of said top work surface. 